Fraud is an growing menace in our society at the moment. It could actually seem in lots of types and have devastating penalties. However what will be accomplished to cease the specter of fraud amidst the development of know-how? “Expertise Shichifukujin,” a staff of scholars on the Tokyo Metropolitan School of Industrial Expertise Shinagawa Campus (hereinafter known as TMCIT), are one step nearer to that actuality. We talked to the staff about their current win at DCON2024 and the inspiration behind their AI-powered fraud detection system.
The Nationwide School of Expertise Deep Studying Contest, often called DCON, is a enterprise creation contest the place technical school college students create merchandise that mix their manufacturing expertise with deep studying and compete. The judges, energetic enterprise capitalists, consider technological and enterprise potential to search out the winner.
This 12 months, in 2024, “Expertise Shichifukujin” from TMCIT gained first place for his or her product FraudShield AI, an simply put in system that detects fraud in phone calls.
Technical School: An Surroundings to Invite Innovation
TMCIT is a technical school with eight primary programs, every lasting 5 years. First-year college students study manufacturing fundamentals earlier than selecting a course of their second 12 months. The campus fosters innovation, by sensible studying and technical after-school actions offering a perfect setting for college students like Expertise Shichifukujin to develop and showcase their expertise.
As a technical school, TMCIT encourages college students to discover studying alternatives like DCON whereas emphasizing accountability. Although college students be a part of after junior excessive, they’re handled like college college students, accountable for his or her educational careers. This accountability additionally brings alternatives, similar to finding out overseas by abroad applications, just like the IEP (Worldwide Schooling Program) and the GCP (World Communication Program).
Who Is Expertise Shichifukujin?
Expertise Shichifukujin is a gaggle of 9 college students, all beneath 20, finding out at TMCIT. Utilizing AI chatbot ChatGPT, they selected the identify to symbolize the seven staff members allowed within the contest, likening their various pursuits to the distinct virtues of the Seven Gods of Luck in Japanese tradition.
The staff of third 12 months college students gained DCON. Group chief Nishitani Sotetsu selected members based mostly on key expertise like programming and circuit board creation, guaranteeing open communication wanted to satisfy the competition deadlines over six months of collaboration.
Regardless of feeling at an obstacle on account of their inexperience, they succeeded by arduous work and the invaluable recommendation of DCON advisors and group mentor Yanagihara Takashi, president of Ridge-i Inc., an organization that focuses on growing cutting-edge applied sciences to handle important enterprise and social points. His frequent visits and recommendation had been instrumental of their success.
Getting into DCON on the age of 16, the staff confronted challenges however leveraged their contemporary views and acrobatic pondering to discover AI’s potential, debate its purposes, and drive innovation.
The competition helped them develop key expertise, together with enterprise proposal creation and superior programming. In contrast to their prior expertise, the FraudShield AI challenge required modern problem-solving and collaboration, opening new alternatives for development.
The Start of FraudShield AI
Nishitani’s personal expertise impressed the thought of FraudShield AI. A 12 months in the past, the group chief paid for an ESTA (Digital System for Journey Authorization) to check overseas within the school’s IEP by what turned out to be a fraudulent web site and consequently misplaced round 9,000 yen.
Nishitani revealed that whereas the monetary value was comparatively minor, the emotional toll was profound. Initially believing fraud was solely skilled by the aged, he now goals to boost consciousness and develop an answer. His analysis into fraud’s monetary and emotional penalties, together with self-blame and household disputes resulting in extreme outcomes, fueled his dedication.
Fraud is prevalent in Japanese society. In 2023, among the many 19,038 instances of particular fraud acknowledged, 77.5% of preliminary contact was by phone, and 90.5% of these calls had been made to the sufferer’s landline.
FraudShield AI detects fraudulent calls in real-time, displaying fraud danger by growing LED lights and notifying customers with a buzzer as soon as fraud is confirmed. Designed for customers of all ages, particularly the aged, the interface was refined by trial and error, together with altering the phrase “fraud” from kanji to katakana to reinforce readability, addressing challenges posed by the complicated kanji character strokes.
The interface is straightforward to make use of and arrange and solely requires the consumer to attach the microphone to the landline cellphone. Customers may also join the system to their household’s LINE account, sending notifications if the buzzer sounds, permitting relations to examine on the consumer and determine on subsequent steps.
Chief Nishitani hopes that the circulation of FraudShield AI will put individuals on their guard in opposition to suspicious calls and enhance consciousness of fraud, resulting in decreased instances.
Expertise Shichifukujin
Interview and writing by Alexandra Grey
